How does it work? I was in Europe for a month and broke down and bought a nice pair of Lowa hiking boots and a Jack Wolfskin shirt for hiking in the Black Forest. I know I could have bought them back in the states for less, but I wan’t in the states and wanted them now so please no comments on how expensive it is to but stuff like this in Europe because I know. BTW, I looked rather dashing and cool in them anyway, the girls wanted to be with me and the men wanted to be like me! 
Anyway, the store filled out a tax refund form and stamped it and told me to have customs stamp it upon my return. I would then swend it back to them and they would refun the VAT. Well I was of course stretched for time and about missed my connection in Dulles so I didn’t bother to stop at customs. Am I screwed? Could I have gotten this done at Heathrow before I left Europe? Can I still get my tax money back? It’s not an awfull lot of money but would be nice to have back if it wasn’t to much hassle. If I start buying large quanties of artwork like Citizen Kane can I still get my VAT back? Just in case I hit the lotto. 